[Statlist] Postdoctoral position on Statistical Verification of Weather Warnings at University of Bern

[joh@@@@@ziegei m@iii@g oii st@t@u@ibe@ch]

Postdoctoral position on Statistical Verification of Weather Warnings

In the framework of a collaboration being currently set up between the University of Bern and the Swiss Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (Meteoswiss), we are calling for applications for a 2-year postdoctoral position (80%-100%) to be funded subject to successful completion of the collaboration contract.

The main goal is to investigate and develop a statistical framework for the verification of weather warnings.  Warnings are traditionally issued for specific (often fixed) regions in space, defined time periods, and certain event types. Existing verification therefore often interprets warnings as forecasts of binary categorical events and counts of hits, misses, and false alarms form the basis to assess quality of warnings. In contrast to standard weather forecasts, the non-event (no warning, no event) is often not well defined for warnings, and near hits/misses create difficulties. Furthermore, the temporal complexities of warnings should be considered. To maximize user-relevance, the framework for the verification of warnings will be developed in close collaboration with ongoing sociological studies at MeteoSwiss to better understand how warnings are used in practice.

The recruited postdoctoral researcher will be mentored from the academic side by Prof. Johanna Ziegel, Institute for Mathematical Statistics and Actuarial Sciences, and affilliated with the Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research (University of Bern). The recruited Postdoc will also work a substantial part of her/his time at MeteoSwiss (near Zürich) under the guidance of Dr. Jonas Bhend and Dr. Mark Liniger. This will ensure an optimal know-how transfer on the understanding of the motivating problems, meteorological expertise, the exact user needs and practical applicability and the work can build upon prior experience at MeteoSwiss.

The ideal candidate either has a PhD in statistics with a strong taste for applications in areas related to meteorology and climate sciences, or a PhD in climate sciences with a strong background in theoretical and applied statistics. In all cases, the position will require outstanding data analysis and implementation skills, very good communication and team player abilities, and academic writing proficiency. We offer a multi-disciplinary environment with the possibility to have an impact on science and society. The starting date is as soon as possible. Applications will be reviewed swiftly and selected candidates will be contacted for interviews.

CV, motivation letter and names of three references to be sent to johanna.ziegel using stat.unibe.ch<mailto:johanna.ziegel using stat.unibe.ch>

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